Vineyard's Children — Steve Shilstone

In the late 1970s, in the Northern California wine country, a hippie commune known as Vineyard has evolved from sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll into a working farm and winery. Ten-year-old JC, short for Joyful Child, a name he naturally despises, is a decent, sensible, compassionate kid. He and Teenie, his half-sister, are the only two children remaining on the farm. Their world features New Age spirituality, séances, tree-hugging vegetarians, parental kidnapping, folk singers, drug abuse, psychic healing circles, a horse called Pegasus, and a few magical mysteries but what lights the JC's fire is joining a Little League baseball team. He's an amazingly gifted pitcher, and coaches are eager to have him as a player. This is JC's look at the kaleidoscopic events of the era. At its core, it is a story about a brother, a sister, and a time.